Changes to Length of Stay

We keep hearing from friends that the U.S. is trying to change the length-of-stay time from 182 days to a maximum stay of 120 days for Canadian citizens. Is there any truth to this? I have been unable to find anything regarding this on the website.

Karyn Farthing

Speargrass, AB

Response: Ed: To our knowledge, there is currently no U.S. initiative to reduce our length of stay to 120 days. A few years ago, there was proposed draft legislation to limit visits to 30 days following the 911 terrorist attacks, and subsequent discussions had proposed 90- and 120-day limits as possibilities.

The CSA was very effective in fighting this issue with our U.S. friends and the six-month rule is still valid and ongoing. Economically speaking, the U.S. will need our “snowbird dollars” even more over the next few years, and they do recognize our substantial contribution to their economic well-being.

The CSA Snowbird Visa is also receiving a very warm reception in Washington, so I believe that the trend will be to longer stays, not shorter ones.